It’s official, monsoons are here

Express News

Bangalore, 07 June 2010: It’s time to bring out your umbrellas as the meteorological department has on Sunday said that the south west Monsoon has finally arrived in the state.

Director of Meteorological Department, B Puttanna told Express that the city that generally receives around 80 mm of rain in the month of June has already received about 59 mm of rainfall within just one week.

He said that last year, due to cyclone Aila, coastal Karnataka did not receive heavy rainfall and thus the city witnessed light showers.

However, Puttanna has said that this year, the monsoons were on time and added that the city would witness heavy rainfall in the coming weeks, as the south west Monsoon had finally left Kerala and entered Karnataka on Saturday.

"This time, we are expecting good rainfall. The met department has also issued a heavy rainfall warning in parts of coastal Karnataka, Western Ghats and parts of South interior Karnataka," Puttanna said.

Puttanna added, "Due to the presence of the thick cloudcover and heavy rainfall, there would also be a sudden dip in the temperatures.’’

Meanwhile, Raje Gowda, meteorological scientist at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, has said that it is the right time for the farmers of north interior Karnataka to start sowing red gram, maize and sunflower crops."